Parents followed the weather Monday night, hoping that they could rely on Parkway to keep their children safe from freezing temperatures and call off school. Yet, under a wind chill advisory issued on Monday, 221 schools in the St. Louis area closed for the safety of their students, and Parkway was not one of them.

At 4:35 a.m., @parkwayschools tweeted that school would be in session, and told students to “bundle up,” linking a letter on the Parkway website. The letter stated that the district would make sure that their buses were warmed early and that they should arrive within five minutes of their scheduled time. However, with traffic and other outside factors, five minutes can quickly turn to 15. Reach 30, and any exposed skin on a child waiting for their bus will get frostbite.

The wind chill advisory stated, “IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS, MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES, MAKING SURE ALL EXPOSED SKIN IS COVERED.”

Not all students have access to warm clothes to keep them from the chilling wind, yet, Parkway still chose to have school today.

School is IN session today. Buses are warm and ready. Bundle up and see you soon… Plans for cold weather: https://t.co/5EtSArCxSu

— Parkway Schools (@ParkwaySchools) January 16, 2018

“I think it was really testing the limits of the safety precautions for children. I was outside for 10 seconds and my hands literally physically hurt,” senior Cate Santhuff said.

This brings people back to Parkway’s motto: “The mission of the Parkway School District is to ensure all students are capable, curious, caring and confident learners who understand and respond to the challenges of an ever-changing world.”

The students feel as if they are caring, but they are starting to question if the district itself understands this important character trait.

“Parkway’s motto is about caring for their students, but they make students stand out in four-degree weather, waiting for a bus that’s ten minutes late,” senior Lisa Savage said.

The letter closes out with, “Please know that we closely monitor weather conditions and our decisions are always based on the safety of your children.”

“It was very frigid. It was almost numbing because everything was super cold. I was mad, because of all those temperatures, they’re super low, and someone standing out there for a long time could be in really unhealthy conditions,” junior Sianna Xu said.